Chargers, Chiefs, Broncos, Raiders: AFC West fans and reporters preview the 2022 NFL season

In the latest edition of our fan preview articles ahead of the 2022 NFL season, we move back to the AFC and look at a division that is arguably the most wide-open we’ve seen in years.

As Tupac Shukar famously said in his song California Love ‘Let me welcome everybody to the wild wild west’. It might be a bit of an outdated reference, but when it comes to the AFC West, it’s arguably the most appropriate way to describe the state of the division.

There have been times in the past when divisions have been pretty easy to predict at the start of the season, look no further than the New England Patriots dynasty days when they won the AFC East 17 times between 2001 and 2019.

You cannot say that about this year’s AFC West though, as each team is pretty stacked on both sides of the ball and each have their playmakers that can make an impact on any given snap.

But what do those who live and breathe it make of it all? We reached out to a number of fans and reporters from all teams in the AFC West and asked them their views on their respective franchises, asking five of the same questions to each responder before giving them one unique question each, after which we will reveal our prediction for how the division will look come the end of the regular season.

What went well for you last season?

The offense was one of the most exciting and explosive units in the NFL. A young superstar quarterback in Justin Herbert, a pair of dynamic wideouts in Keenan Allen and Mike Williams, and a running back that scored 20 touchdowns last season in Austin Ekeler.

What area do you need to improve on?

The Chargers had one of the worst run defenses in the NFL last season, giving up an average of 139 rushing yards per game. Opposing teams knew they